Newbie looking for first steps

[nandrews 4]

Longranger,

 

Thanks for that. I appreciate that the supplied scenery will be limited (I was used to that with FSX and so went for Orbx). But this default seems to be less defined, aswell as less detailed.

I have d/l HDMesh - so far only for the UK. I have yet to install that and maybe I will see the change. Aswell has having Aerosoft Heathrow which I hope will also show a big improvement.

I'm not sure what you mean "Since you have a 4K monitor your system is limited." I have set the monitor resolution into X-Plane, but it didn't change the display at all - still lots of 'jaggies'.

I also appreciate that the default aircraft models won't be up to much. Again I am used to that from FSX (so bought A2A), but these still seem to be less good.

Apart from fumbling around and setting basic joystick controls and the resolution, it has the same set-up it came with.

 

I guess as I said, that I am looking for an 'X-plane guide to first use' or the 'missing X-plane manual'.

Otherwise it's very much, look around until you find something to change!

I'd be prepared to pay for a manual/guide if there is such a thing.

 

Thanks again

Nigel

[Jimmy RFR 406]

 

 

P.S. I did get the 172 off the ground and flew a sort of circuit to land again. But I was not impressed.

 

I do recall trying the demo / starting area a long time ago, and leaving feeling, well, unimpressed. ^_^

 

(Please keep in mind that I'm new to X-Plane as well, so feel free to take anything I'm going to say with a grain of salt.  I may or may not know what the heck I'm doing!)

 

Just like FSX / P3D / FS9, X-Plane needs you to do stuff to make it look nice...

 

First of all, disable those silly default AI planes.  They just distract you while you're trying to get things sorted out.  In the top menu, select Aircraft > Aircraft & Situations, choose the Other Aircraft tab, and reduce the number of aircraft to 1 (you).  When you are ready, you can always enable them again, or look at other AI options (if there is indeed any).

 

The Settings > Joysticks and Equipment tab is incredibly versatile; one thing I thought I'd miss from FSX is FSUIPC, but XP gives you freedom to set up your hardware controls pretty much however you like.  If you want persistence between aircraft, use a plugin called X-Assign.

 

The final big menu is Settings > Rendering Options.  Here's where all the eye candy is.  By default, stuff is kept pretty low; but turn it up bit by bit, and experiment to see how it affects performance.  Unfortunately, it's all personal preference here.  Your 4K monitor might mean that you have to turn things down lower than those rocking 1080p; I run at 1440p, and I do have to balance settings somewhat conservatively.

 

From there, everything else that makes XP look good is downloadable.  HD Mesh V3 should be your first priority, possibly followed by the W2XP osm files pre-compiled from Simheaven. Then hit up x-plane.org for some nice free airports and a few decent free aircraft.  I highly recommend PAJN by MisterX, it's really superb, even if you're familiar with the FTX version in FSX.  RealTerraHaze, often just referred to as RTH, is also almost essential, it makes things look eerily realistic.

 

Once you've got all that straightened away, then look to a bit of payware perhaps. I'm rather enjoying the Dreamfoil R22 at the moment; it's incredibly immersive and well done.  I've also added SkyMaxx pro recently, and it makes my sky look a bit closer to what I'm used to in FSX, as well as helping with performance a bit.

 

Hope a bit of that helps!!

[nandrews 4]

Jimmy,

Thanks for that advice it will be really useful. I will certainly try all you suggest.

I'm just surprised there isn't a 'go to' source for getting everything upto a good working level - from which then you persoanlise it.

But not to take away from your good advice here.

 

I pick up on your reference to my 4K monitor (as with Longranger). Maybe there is a misunderstanding, but it is as far as I'm concerned the b-leading edge of PC monitors, turning in 3840 x 2160! After all 4K is what people are talking about in TV's these days.

Along with an i7 and the 980 I am expecting this new set is pretty much top line. So I would expect to be able to run both FSX and X-Plane at or near to the highest settings.

 

Thanks again

Nigel

[Old_As_Dirt 160]

Nigel,

 

I don't know what Steam give you, but you said that there was no manual.

 

Go here - http://www.x-plane.com/support/manuals/ - and download the PDF manual for X-Plane if you haven't already.  It will explain a lot that would take a lot of long posts here.  

 

Of course, if you have already done this, what I have said here is for naught, but I believe that you haven't seen it based on your statement.

 

Also, as has been said, we are always glad to offer any help you might need.  You will not be disappointed for long.

 

John 

[mdavis 10]

I also run an i7-4790K with a 4GB GTX980.  The problem with sims like X-Plane is that when you have the AA and FA turned up and distance set to max, resolution maxed and other sliders pushed, you run out of VRAM with "only" 4GB.  I have done that frequently during "tuning."  The problem is that the graphics are loaded into VRAM, up-sized for the AA and FA filtering, then downsized and sent to the monitor for display.  That sucks up a lot of VRAM.

 

This works fine as long as your total VRAM load stays below your card's capacity.  Once you exceed that VRAM load, the GPU swaps data to RAM which slows things down greatly.  Obviously with a big 4K monitor, your card must handle a LOT more load so your graphics settings must be reduced in order to handle the extra pixel load.  I just lost a monitor and while I was thinking of getting a 4K monitor, I don't think my 4GB 980 will handle it adequately, not to mention the problem with tiny, almost unreadable text at that resolution. - something I have trouble with on my laptop.

 

So my choice right now is to eiher buy a new 4K AND a new Titan-X (16GB) card, or keep the GTX980 and stick with a normal 1980x1080 monitor.  I don't think a 980 is enough for 4K.  Those who are using that combination, please speak up!

[nandrews 4]

John,

 

Many thanks. No I haven't found a manual (that's not to say it isn't there).

So your link will be very helpful.

The simulation certainly doesn't show you what you can do and how.

 

Thanks

Nigel

mdavis,

Thanks for that. I take your point that the 4K requires more from the card in itself, ontop of what settings there in the sim (glad you recognize the 4K as a highend monitor!)

I set the monitor resolution and also set High in the render settings.

I am seeing stepping as I turn and occasional pauses. But that maybe due to something else I have yet to uncover,

The i7 was overclocked up to 4.3 GHz on delivery (with 32GB RAM), but the graphics card is default.

I am too nervous really to try overclocking for myself, tho' I expect there are gains to be had.

 

Thanks

Nigel

[Longranger 148]

 

I'm not sure what you mean "Since you have a 4K monitor your system is limited." I have set the monitor resolution into X-Plane, but it didn't change the display at all - still lots of 'jaggies'.

Well, to get rid of the Jaggies you have to turn on HDR and use the HDR anti-aliasing settings

[Jimmy RFR 406]

 

 

pick up on your reference to my 4K monitor (as with Longranger). Maybe there is a misunderstanding, but it is as far as I'm concerned the b-leading edge of PC monitors, turning in 3840 x 2160! After all 4K is what people are talking about in TV's these days.

Along with an i7 and the 980 I am expecting this new set is pretty much top line. So I would expect to be able to run both FSX and X-Plane at or near to the highest settings.

 

Yes, 4K may be close to 'top of the line' or 'bleeding edge'; but the truth is that even for mainstream gaming in 4K you need a heck of a rig to run it, with folks usually turning to SLI to do so.

 

While you'll likely get decent performance with your setup, you'll likely find that the demands placed upon your system at 4K will require careful balancing of your settings.  You've already mentioned the 'jaggies'; turning on HDR along with setting something like 4X SSAA (or higher) will help with that.  But higher levels of AA will hurt performance, and it will be more noticeable the larger your resolution is.

 

So when it was mentioned that your 'system is limited' by 4K, it was more to point out that the requirement of running 4K in X-Plane will place large demands on your system, not that it's in any way inferior.

[saed45 38]

you can also go to this thread for some help in regards of getting your sim looking nice

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/463382-x-plane-ultra-realism-for-free/

[nandrews 4]

Thanks for the last 3 comments. I didn't get an email ntice for those so I am slo to respond.

Jimmy I understand now you comment re. 4K

I will try all your suggestions and be aware of the implications.

 

I am now more comfortable with X-plane at this end of the day than I was at the start!

Thanks

Nigel

[mdavis 10]

I'll throw in a couple more comments here.

 

If you are able to run a 4K monitor, you can get by with pulling back on the AA/AF settings as the hi-res monitor seems to make up for loss of filtering detail.

 

To monitor your actual total VRAM load, grab a copy of GPU-Z (free on the 'net - Google it) and run it during an X-Plane session.  You'll find the total VRAM load is about twice what the Rendering window shows at the bottom.

 

X-Plane does not work well with SLI, so forget that.  If you really want to push 4K, you should be running a Titan-X (16GB) graphics card unless you want to pull back on a lot of settings.

 

Most users agree that you do not want to compress textures to save VRAM as it costs you framerates.

 

Set you nVidia card in the control panel for Maximum Performance and Single Thread Optimization.  Some also say set the card to Single Screen Performance and V-Sync to Adaptive although I haven't tried the last two.

 

Make only one change at a time and test in identical circumstances to see what the effect is.

[nandrews 4]

mdavis,

Once again I thank you for those suggestions.

I will look at and no doubt try them all.

I think the Titan was out of my reach even at 6GB, which would have added £900 to my recent build.

I will have to work with what I have for now. But it is substantially better than I had before so I should be able to realise improvements.

 

Thanks

Nigel

 

[mdavis 10]

I'm just running a 4GB GTX980 on a 1920x1200 monitor which works just fine for me.  I just lost a monitor and need to replace one, but decided against a 4K due to graphics load.  I like having 50-60 fps during flights over complex scenery and keeping busy airport ground frames in the 30's.  I've seen 4K with X-Plane and the combined cost of a Titan-X and 4K is just not worth the money to me.  My scenery is outstanding because I can push the AA/AF settings higher than you can on a 4K, and a 24 or 27" monitor 1/2 meter away is plenty big.  There are just too many small text problems with the 4K monitors with many programs that make it less than optimal for my uses.

[Jimmy RFR 406]

 

 

There are just too many small text problems with the 4K monitors with many programs that make it less than optimal for my uses.

 

Of course it depends on the size of the monitor; my laptop runs 1920x1080 on a 15.6" screen, and I still have DPI issues occasionally.

 

My main flying / gaming monitor is 2560x1440 on a 32" display, which results in close the same DPI as a 1980x1020 on a 24" screen.  It's absolutely wonderful, I'd highly recommend it.  It basically gives the same magnification or zoom as the 24" I was used to, but with a much, much larger FOV both horizontally and vertically.

 

Even at 2560x1440, I definitely notice the increased load.

[mdavis 10]

Yes, the additional load is a main concern as I'm running a 4GB GTX 980 and I can run out ot VRAM using UHD mesh and OSM scenery if I don't pull back on settings.  Wish I had a way to compare the two.  I sit rather close to my 24" monitor and I wonder if 32" might be a bit too big for my setup.

 

Won't do anything until I return from vacation so maybe I can do some research in the meantime.